Doesn't have to be a problem. Just PR'd at a half with a 17.7 six days prior and 13.1 (preview of the course) two days prior. I do have some experience (i guess). The first few miles I was conscious of not going out too fast, but from mile 3 on, I was pushing. That said, I never felt panicked like I do in the third mile of a 5k.

Message boards are funny places--and generally not where i have found answers to these qualitative types of questions; now, racing--that is the fast track (so to speak) to answers.

Thanks for all the advice but it is all for not now. 5 weeks out from goal race and I have two stress fractures in my foot. Marathon is out for sure and half is in serious jeopardy. Working with sports med Dr. Recheck Friday.

Thanks for all the advice but it is all for not now. 5 weeks out from goal race and I have two stress fractures in my foot. Marathon is out for sure and half is in serious jeopardy. Working with sports med Dr. Recheck Friday.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you heal quickly.

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the fight in the dog. – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Doesn't have to be a problem. Just PR'd at a half with a 17.7 six days prior and 13.1 (preview of the course) two days prior. I do have some experience (i guess). The first few miles I was conscious of not going out too fast, but from mile 3 on, I was pushing. That said, I never felt panicked like I do in the third mile of a 5k.

Message boards are funny places--and generally not where i have found answers to these qualitative types of questions; now, racing--that is the fast track (so to speak) to answers.

For the record, this is where I come for these qualitative type questions, realizing there is no definitive answer, but just to get some input from people with experience. So thanks for the comments MilkTruck & Spaniel.

Dave

L Train

posted: 3/26/2013 at 4:13 AMmodified: 3/26/2013 at 4:27 AM

Nemo says answers, you are saying input. You're both right. We all benefit from the input of the experienced and fast people here, but the only way to get answers is to train with a purpose then lace them up, get on the start line with your heart ready to leap out of your chest, and let the chips fall where they may.

Then do it over and over again, using what you learned about yourself from the previous experiences.

But to the point X was making (I think), you ask whether there is any reason not to continue to do the long runs. I know you're on a plan, but to me it looks like there could be plenty of reason not to do the long runs, even if training for a marathon. With weekly mileage in the 25-high 30s, the 18-20 mile runs take a lot out of you. You probably have to take it easy before those runs to get ready, then you probably need a day or two to recover after (it looks like you always take the day off after and the day before either off or super short).

You'd get more out of increasing your overall mileage and your number of days run. More 10,12,14,16 mile runs closer together which would require less preparation and recovery time. Probably also run at a better pace too, if you find yourself slogging through the ends of some of these longer runs.

My $.02, but even that is borrowed from people on here that I've learned it from.

Thanks for all the advice but it is all for not now. 5 weeks out from goal race and I have two stress fractures in my foot. Marathon is out for sure and half is in serious jeopardy. Working with sports med Dr. Recheck Friday.

Ugh, well that sucks. You must be disappointed. Definitely rest it properly and heal before starting up again. There is always another race to run, take the long view.

Nemo says answers, you are saying input. You're both right. We all benefit from the input of the experienced and fast people here, but the only way to get answers is to train with a purpose then lace them up, get on the start line with your heart ready to leap out of your chest, and let the chips fall where they may.

Then do it over and over again, using what you learned about yourself from the previous experiences.

But to the point X was making (I think), you ask whether there is any reason not to continue to do the long runs. I know you're on a plan, but to me it looks like there could be plenty of reason not to do the long runs, even if training for a marathon. With weekly mileage in the 25-high 30s, the 18-20 mile runs take a lot out of you. You probably have to take it easy before those runs to get ready, then you probably need a day or two to recover after (it looks like you always take the day off after and the day before either off or super short).

You'd get more out of increasing your overall mileage and your number of days run. More 10,12,14,16 mile runs closer together which would require less preparation and recovery time. Probably also run at a better pace too, if you find yourself slogging through the ends of some of these longer runs.

My $.02, but even that is borrowed from people on here that I've learned it from.

L Train, thanks.

Yes some of the longer runs have been tough, and I realize one issue is they are not supposed to exceed x% of total weekly mileage (where everyone has a slightly different opinion of x, but seems consensus is 20-30). However most of the more novice marathon plans do not exceed 40 mpw, so they all violate that, since they all include LR's up to 20. (I am loosely following Higdon Novice 2/Intermediate 1). I have in fact been trying to work on on gradually increasing overall mileage & # days (recent lapses in training due to illness/injury). However as many times as I read that this is more important than the length of the LR, still hard to wrap my head around. Eventually all the time I have been spending on these forums will sink in.

DaveP, Keep in mind that plan is generally designed to help you "finish" the marathon and not much more. You could probably conservatively push in the half and use it for your weeks long run. Your legs will hurt afterwards for sure, possibly for days.

This is all decent advice if you're main goal is to avoid a blow up and have a confidence boosting experience, but if you want to see what you're capable of, occasionally you have to risk blowing up. You have to take into account the course profile, your competition, whether the mental let down of letting a group or a competitor go is better than trying to hang and risking a blow up, etc. There are lots of little things that come into play.

My last half marathon (last Sunday) I was probably a tiny bit too aggressive in miles 5-7, but I was running stride for stride with one of my buddies/teammates/competitors and we were in a good groove, working well off of each other and neither of us wanted to blink. I wound up fading quite a bit after mile 10, where he didn't. He got me this time, but maybe next time I'll get him. That's racing. I still hung on for a better finish than I probably would have if I'd set a conservative goal and tried to negative split the race. At age 43 it wound up being my 2nd or 3rd fastest half marathon ever and I've run a bunch of them. No regrets.

Now that I've had some time to reflect on my performance last week, which I'm still very happy with, I've decided to push harder for my next half, which is in 2.5 weeks. Pretty much enough time to be fully recovered and then taper again lol So I doubt I'll really gain any fitness between races. I set my pace for the Shamrock 5 sec/mile faster than what I ran my tuneup race at last month, and ended up nailing it, a second faster actually. While I hit my goal and felt I ran a good race, I can't help but think now, could I have pushed harder? So I'm gonna get a lil more aggressive on the next one, lil bit faster course, hopefully better weather, put it out there and see what happens. While I was afraid of blowing up at Shamrock, since I had been focused on it all winter, for some reason I don't mind if I crash and burn at the next one, weird. Maybe it's because I already have my sub-1:30, so that'll keep me happy for a while even if I don't set another PR at the Swamp Stomp.

Kathy, sorry to hear about the stress fractures, hope you heal up quick!